Rose Zhang eyes 2nd LPGA victory at Maybank Championship

LPGA’s rising star, Rose Zhang, posted another solid round in Malaysia and she sits just one shot off the lead at the Maybank Championship. The LPGA rookie is 11-under for the tournament and is in contention to earn her second professional victory.

After posting a career-low 65 Thursday, she followed it up with a 4-under 68 Friday. The back-to-back NCAA individual champion could have gone even lower, but a double bogey on the par-4 14th prevented that.

She sank seven birdies, including one to close out her round on the par-5 18th. Her game fits the Kuala Lumpur Golf course well, as she has made 14 birdies in 36 holes.

“You have to have a really solid game plan. You have to be able to commit to every single golf shot and really never give up,” Zhang said. “I think that’s the biggest thing out here. If you’re rolling your putts well, you’ll have a good amount of birdie opportunities, but you have to be able to place the ball first. Fairways, greens, putts, that’s the biggest thing.”

She trails Jasmine Suwannapura, who fired off a 63 on Thursday and a 69 on Friday to enter the weekend at 12-under.

The course played completely different Friday than it did on Saturday. Scores were low on Thursday, but in Round 2, the average score went from 69.5 to 71.1, increasing by nearly two strokes.

“There were a couple pin locations that I felt were very tricky, and especially if you don’t place the ball where you need to on the fairway, you know, bogey, double, it’s all in play,” Zhang said. “So I think that was the biggest thing.”

With her sitting near the top of the leaderboard, Zhang has a shot at winning her second LPGA tournament this season.

In her LPGA Tour debut, Zhang won the Mizuho Americas Open sending golf fans into a frenzy.

“It’s not something that I think about a lot,” she said. “I feel like there are a lot of incredible players out there who can put up incredible numbers, so for me, it’s just being able to take that step by step and having that game plan with Ollie, being able to commit to every single shot, and then we’ll go from there. If I end up in that position, I’ll be working my hardest.”

Photo by Jason Butler/Getty Images

Despite being just 20-years-old, Zhang acts like an LPGA Tour veteran.

She recognizes each day can be a difference maker. She has two rounds to go, and anything could happen. The heat and fatigue could take over, but for now, Zhang is in contention.

She and Suwannapura will tee off with Celine Boutier, who is tied for third at 10-under in the final group on Saturday. They start at 9:27 a.m. local time, which will be 9:27 p.m. EDT Friday night for the fans in the U.S.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.